I looked away from her.
I could remember last night with perfect clarity. The dream came back, she was on the sidewalk, broken. I screamed.
I woke up in a cold sweat, and sat up, letting my head drop into my hands, slowing my breathing and getting myself back under control.
No one came anymore or asked me about it; Mom knew exactly what was going on. But suddenly, someone was sitting next to me and rubbing my shoulder comfortingly.
Paige had heard. And Paige was never one to just sit by and watch. She didn’t ask, she didn’t talk. She just sat there and let me cry, her hand making soothing circles on my shoulder. When I stopped crying, she asked if I wanted a glass of water. I said I was fine, and that she could go to sleep now. She laughed slightly, as though something I’d said was funny. “If you need anything,” she’d said softly upon exiting the room, “I’m just down the stairs.”
I remember how bloodshot her eyes had looked.